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The Centre is dedicated to addressing the challenges and effects of financial crime and threat finance to the UK and international security and the important role finance can play in identifying and disrupting a range of globally-recognised threats.

CFCS Mailing List

Since launching in 2014 the CFCS has become the partner of choice for those seeking to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of current approaches to tackling financial crime and threat finance in the UK and globally.

In order to achieve a step-change in the outcome of current responses to financial crime, the CFCS aims to leverage the complementary skills of the public and private sectors to transform the ways in which financial crime and threat finance can be identified and disrupted; and how this partnership can be harnessed to consider not only contemporary threats but also those that may emerge as a result of the changing landscape of technology, geopolitics, and regulation.

In pursuit of these objectives, the CFCS conducts empirical research and analysis to develop a strong evidence base from which policymakers and practitioners can develop improved responses and best practice.

CFCS work is thus characterised by a constant emphasis on the risk-based approach, the role of public/private partnerships, information sharing and effectiveness.

CFCS staff also partner with others at RUSI where the addition of a financial perspective can contribute a further dimension to existing research disciplines such as environmental and organised crime and nuclear proliferation.

Focus

The team’s research is focused on:

Enhancing the effectiveness of UK and international financial crime responses, including the role of public/private partnerships and the Future of Financial Intelligence Sharing (FFIS) project

Rethinking approaches to countering terrorist financing

Researching the design and implementation of sanctions

Addressing corruption and professional enablers

Financial Crime 2.0 assessing the risks and opportunities of new technologies in the context of AML/CTF efforts (including virtual currencies, social media, links with cyber-crime, partnerships with new actors within and outside the financial system, and opportunities offered by RegTech)

Partnering across RUSI on issues such as human trafficking, illegal wildlife trade, and proliferation finance where a financial dimension can enhance the Institute’s research output.

Activity

Contributing to policy discussions within the UK and in international bodies such as the Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce, the Financial Action Task Force and the United Nations, including giving evidence to both UK and international parliamentary enquiries

Publishing comprehensive reports with evidence-based recommendations for policy-makers and other stakeholders

All too often, any overlaps between crime and terror are seen as forming part of a single problem of the ‘crime/terror nexus’. In reality, they present a range of disparate issues that should be addressed in their proper context.

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Criminals are using an increasingly complex financial modus operandi to take advantage of today’s mostly fragmented approach to detecting their criminal activity. They are, among other means, cycling through financial institutions so that no one bank has the full picture, and moving their money and accounts more quickly than bank reporting and law enforcement can keep up with.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) avoided a decision to return Iran to its blacklist of countries not doing enough to combat money laundering. Iran’s continued litany of financial crime failings further undermines the future of the country’s nuclear deal with Western governments.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which is best known as Britain’s tax collection agency, is also in the forefront of the fight against money laundering. However, its efforts are not always amenable to public scrutiny.

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